Welcome! I am Jill the Doula.
I support women and families in the Boise, Meridian, and greater Treasure Valley area of Idaho.
I felt called to become a doula, after the birth of my firstborn with the support of a caring and kindhearted doula. In 2013 I trained with DONA as a birth doula to support mothers during their birthing time.
Then in 2014, I worked as an Intern doula at the Minnesota Birth Center where I supported many women and families at the birth center.
I then continued on to work both independently as a birth doula, and later in a partnership with two other great doulas, while living in Minnesota. I have supported women in all types of settings such as home births, out of hospital birth centers, and hospitals.
Before becoming a Mom and birth doula, I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire and my Master’s Degree in Behavior Analysis and Therapy from Southern Illinois University. I worked with children and adults with traumatic brain injury and young children diagnosed with autism.
Once I gave birth to my first child, with the support of a wonderful doula, I decided to take some time off work to be home with him and his soon-to-be-coming sisters. I was a stay-at-home-mom for many years while homeschooling our kids. Then, years into my doula journey, I had my own experience giving birth at home.
Birthing our 4th child at home with our amazing homebirth midwife, Kate with Twin Cities Midwifery, in 2015.
Every day I am grateful for my amazing husband Tony, and our four beautiful children Riley, Lilya, Gwendolyn, and Jasmine. Their continued encouragement and love allow me to live my dreams. First as a doula, and then for a period of time, as a full-time traveling family!
Yes, we did something a bit ‘crazy’. In 2017 we bought an RV and sold most of our belongings so that we could travel around the USA for 2 years. Then, we spent 5 months traveling overseas before coming back to the USA where we found ourselves falling in love with Idaho.
We spent 2 years living in our motorhome around the USA and created a travel blog you can check out here.
It is now 2020 and our family has planted some roots in Meridian, Idaho. We couldn’t be happier!
I have always wanted to be a mother, travel the world, and support other mothers. Being a doula is what many of us call ‘mothering-the-mother’. I’m living my dream here in Idaho.
My Experiences As A Birth Doula
I have attended over 53 births and I was fortunate enough to support several families for a second time as they had a second baby. A few of my experiences as a birth doula include supporting mothers who have had:
- Homebirths with a midwife
- Hospital births
- Birth center births
- Epidural-planned births
- Water births
- Twins
- Cesarean births
- Induced births
- Premature births
- High-risk pregnancies
- VBACs
- Been over 40
- Single moms
- Surrogate woman giving birth
- Hypnobabies support
I feel honored to support women during their exciting journey of pregnancy, birth, and beyond.
Birth is a life-changing experience for mothers and a time when you might surprise yourself with how strong you are both emotionally and physically.
You are better able to find that strength and power when you feel well informed, prepared, well supported, and understand more about what’s going on around you. When you feel positive about yourself and your ability to birth your baby, you will have a more positive experience overall.
Just as when you feel positive about caring for your newborn baby in the first weeks, you will also feel more confident in feeding and caring for your baby.
